16 July 2010

Kootstra- Talent Fellowship Programme 2010

Introduction

The Executive Board of the Maastricht UMC has means available in 2010 to develop talent amongst young scientific researchers. These means have been invested in the so-called “Kootstra-Talent Fellowship Programme’’.

Objective

The Kootstra-Talent Fellowship is intended for three groups of young scientific researchers:

1. Talented students in Health, Medicine or Life Sciences

The fellowship is intended for talented students in Health, Medicine or Life Sciences, who have demonstrated to be able to combine their studies with an active involvement in scientific research. This could apply to several target groups. For instance, students who are working on their PhD-research for a while and for whom obtaining a PhD-degree within two years would be feasible, considering the project planning and time-frame. Or students who are already actively involved in scientific research and who could continue their training as a PhD-student following the fellowship.

The fellowship amounts to € 20.257 (in accordance with scale7-0 € 17.257 for salary costs and

€ 3.000 for exploitation costs). It can be used for a flexible period of time. The School (formerly institute) who will host the PhD-student has to match this amount of money for the candidate.

2. Talented future PhD-students

The fellowship is meant to bridge the time between graduation of a talented student in Medicine, Health or Life Sciences and the start of an official contract as a PhD-student. The fellowship amounts to € 20.257 (in accordance with scale7-0 € 17.257 for salary costs and € 3.000 for exploitation costs) and is meant for a period of 6 months. The School concerned has to match an equal amount of money for the candidate.

The Executive Board has decided that 12 months is the maximum period of time for the fellowship. It is advised to use this period of time (as well) to write your own unique research proposal. The date to start the fellowship is for the talented future PhD-student the day after graduation or after a written approval of the study-results by the examination office.

3. Talented future postdocs

The fellowship is meant to bridge the time between graduation of the PhD-student and the start of an official contract as a postdoc. This period of time can be used for writing a proposal for a postdoc position, for example an application in the NWO VENI-programme.

The fellowship amounts to € 27.530 (in accordance with scale 10-4 € 24.530 for salary costs and

€ 3.000 for exploitation costs) and is meant for a period of 6 months. The School concerned has to match an equal amount of money for the candidate.

The Executive Board has decided that 12 months is the maximum period of time for the fellowship. The date to start the fellowship is for the talented future PhD-student the day after the PhD-defense or after a written approval of the thesis.

The means of the fellowship are strictly personal and cannot be transferred to other persons.

Application guidelines

In 2010 there will be two calls. The deadlines for application are April 1^st and October 1^st. To apply for admission to the ‘Kootstra Talent Fellowship’-programme, the principle investigators of the Schools are invited to submit an application to miss I. Timmermans, CRISP (Centre for Research Innovation, Support and Policy), universiteitssingel 50, kamer 1.353 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Except for the application form a research proposal for the period of the fellowship has to be presented. The scientific director of the School concerned has to present a supporting letter in which they guarantee both the 50% matching demand as well as a contract as a student-PhD-candidate (‘student-AIO’), a PhD-student (‘AIO’) or a postdoc. The Executive Board will decide whether or not a candidate will be admitted to the ‘Kootstra-Talent-Fellowship’-programme. The Commission Research Policy (COB) acts as an advisory board.

The assessment procedure foresees in a pre-selection. The most promising candidates are invited for an interview. The aim is to make the selection of the Kootstra Talent Fellows within two months after the deadline.

Criteria

The date to start the fellowship has to be within a half year afterwards the fellowship has been awarded. Exceeding the date to start the Board can rectify the award of the Kootstra Talent Fellowship.

The applications/candidates in the framework of the ‘Kootstra Talent Fellowship’-programme will be checked against the following criteria:

This is an advice concerning the quality of the proposals and candidates.

Applications for fellowships ‘talented future postdocs’

The criteria are (without prioritizing):

· Date of PhD-graduation

· Publications in general and first authorships

· Impact factors of the journals in which was published, according to the research field concerned.

· Judgment of the supervisor/applicant

· Possibilities for a follow-up (within the research institute)

· Motivation of the candidate researcher

· Experience abroad

Applications for fellowships ‘talented students’ and ‘ talented future PhD-students’

The criteria are (without prioritizing):

· Study-results

· Publications in general and first authorships

· Experience or interest demonstrated in research (a job as a student-assistant, OTG-track, academic internship and participation in MMSRC-conference)

· Originality of the proposal

· The capacity of the candidate to differentiate and be creative and analytical

· Communication and presentation of the candidate

· Judgment of the supervisor/ applicant

· Possibilities for a follow-up (within the research institute)

· Motivation of the candidate researcher

More information you can obtain by contacting miss. I. Timmermans, CRISP (Centre for Research Innovation, Support and Policy), universiteitssingel 50, kamer 1.353. Tel: (+31) 43-388 1653 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or mr. M. Berndes, , CRISP (Centre for Research Innovation, Support and Policy), Universiteitssingel 50, room 1.351, tel. (+31)43-3881115, e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Download Kootstra talent fellowship deadline October 1, 2010